Italy shuts embassy in Libya, appeals to UN as thousands flee war-torn country for Europe

The Italian embassy in Tripoli has been closed and its staff evacuated due to the raging military conflict in Libya. It comes as the Italian coast guard took part in a massive rescue mission of over 2,000 migrants fleeing from the Libyan coast.

“The deteriorating situation in Libya made it necessary to
close [the embassy],” Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni said
on Sunday. The Foreign Ministry added that the embassy staff of
about 100 were being transferred back to Italy by ship.

On Sunday, the Italian coast guard rescued nearly 2,200 migrants
who became stranded in 12 boats between the Libyan coast and the
Italian island of Lampedusa. During the operation, four smugglers
armed with Kalashnikovs took a speed boat to where the rescue
operation was taking place and threatened the coast guard,
Transport Minister Maurizio Lupi said.

The smugglers tried to negotiate to get the migrants’ boats back,
Lupi added. “Another terrible development in the horrendous
trafficking of men, women and children in the
Mediterranean.”

Eventually, three of the smugglers jumped onto one of the empty
boats and took off. At that point, all the migrants were safely
transported to the coast guard’s vessel.

Libya and Italy only have a narrow stretch of the Mediterranean
Sea between them, and the number of traffickers has recently
surged, along with fees of up to $2,000 for the passage across.

Violence in Libya has recently intensified, with extremist groups
including the Islamic State (IS, previously ISIS/ISIL) being
increasingly active in the country. On Sunday, ISIS militants
released their latest graphic video, showing what they claim are
the executions of 21 Egyptian Copts kidnapped in Libya.

The ongoing conflict that stems from the 2011 Libyan civil war,
in which Western-backed rebels toppled the country’s ruler
Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, has direct implications for Europe.
Italy has been one of the first countries directly affected, with
thousands of migrants trying to escape the fighting by boats.

On Friday, the Italian coast guard rescued 600 migrants who were
trying to use six dinghies to cross the Mediterranean Sea to
Europe. Last week, over 300 migrants tragically drowned in the
Mediterranean Sea, after overcrowded rubber dinghies collapsed
and sank during a storm.

It has been estimated that more than 3,200 people died in 2014
while trying to reach the Italian coast via boats from North
Africa. The UN named the crossing as the most dangerous in the
world.

Jihadist threat for Europe?

Italian Defense Minister Roberta Pinotti told Il Messaggero
newspaper in an interview on Sunday that the risk of jihadists
coming to Italy by boat “could not be ruled out.”

Pinotti also confirmed Italy's readiness to lead a UN coalition
against the advance of jihadists in Libya. “The risk is
imminent, we cannot wait any longer. Italy has national defense
needs and cannot have a caliphate ruling across the shores from
us,” she said.

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi – who has long been pressing
for UN intervention in Libya and has been urging the EU to help
with the influx of migrants – also pushed for stronger
international involvement to resolve the conflict.

“We have told Europe and the international community that we
have to stop sleeping,” Renzi told RAI TV on Saturday.
“The problems cannot all be left to us because we are the
first, the closest, the people who pick up the boats.”